Conical air gap motors are known to exhibit power efficiencies above the motor industry average in both low and high output power environments. U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,330,316 and 8,330,317 disclose such structures. Those patents, which are commonly owned by the applicant of this filing, are incorporated herein by reference.
The design of the rotor for such motors currently relies on component magnets to support and position the magnetically permeable poles that face the air gap. As such, the mechanical strength of those magnets is an important design consideration. As power demands on motors increase, so do the forces imparted on the component magnets.
Accordingly, there is a need for support structures for magnetically permeable poles that mitigate operational forces on component magnets.